


something so pleasant

by interestobscura



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Multi, i owe ashley johnson my life, same to ally beardsley, tw minor case of misgendering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23081038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interestobscura/pseuds/interestobscura
Summary: After they get released, Cameron goes home.(or: what happens when you have a literal demon in your head, when you're in high school, no less. it's a mess, but so are him and his friends. they'll figure that out, eventually.)
Relationships: Aff Flowers/Sasha Murasaki/Cameron Solomon/Jamie Wrenly
Comments: 7
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i have never stepped foot in an american "high school" but ive seen gifs of riverdale which means im probably qualified to write about it.
> 
> title from 'crazy' by gnarls barkley

I made a mistake in my life today  
Everything I love gets lost in the drawers  
I want to start over, I want to be winning  
Way out of sync from the beginning 

I wanna hurry home to you 

\- Slow Show, _The National_

* * *

After they get released, Cameron goes home.

It’s funny, he thinks to himself bitterly, how this, more than anything, feels like the real punishment. Spending the night in a jail cell with his friends never inspired the sense of absolute dread that springs in his chest when he sees the familiar polished stone and cobbled driveway of his house come into view. 

The police car screeches to a stop, and Cameron nods to the officer before silently getting out. His shoulders automatically straighten, and he runs a hand through his messy hair in preparation. Thinking wistfully of the way Sasha had spent the night curled up on his lap instead of the hard prison cot, the wide grin Aff had shot them as they lay together, and the soft squeeze Jamie gave him before they went their separate ways, Cameron summons as much strength as he feels capable of from the memory of his friends.

No time like the present, then.

The front door swings open, revealing an empty corridor. So far, so good. Cameron steps into the house, taking care to remove his shoes and step over the one creaky floorboard. He can’t hear any movement beyond the entrance, relief rapidly filling his chest as he walks swiftly in the direction of his room. 

He opens the door and stops.

Cameron’s father stands from his desk chair, impatiently motioning for Cameron to close the door behind him. Numbly, he obeys, pressing his back to the wood and refusing to step closer. 

“Lying to a police officer,” his father takes a step forward. “Stealing _my_ car.”

Another step.

“Involving yourself in the affairs of delinquents.”

A final step, and Cameron is forced to tilt his chin up to meet his father’s eyes. He can feel his legs start to go soft, his tongue sour with fear, but defiantly he refuses to look away at the disappointment reflected back at him from eyes the colour of his own. After a tense minute, his father abruptly raises a hand. 

Cameron flinches on instinct for a blow that never comes. His father scoffs, disgust coating his voice.

“You will remain in your room for the entire week. Should you try to leave and I find your room empty, be assured that you will no longer be welcome in this house.”

He roughly shoves Cameron aside and leaves, slamming the door behind him. Cameron can’t stop his head from jerking away, shame rising in his cheeks as he feels hot tears beading in his eyes. 

The rest of the night is spent with his head resting against the door, fighting back sobs as the dreaded whispers start up and fill the room. 

Eventually he falls into a restless sleep, green flashes and screaming haunting him far after he wakes.

* * *

The next day is a waking nightmare. 

He’s tired and irritable, and the whispers of last night have disappeared only to be replaced by the whispers surrounding him in school the next day. Sunglasses on and head down, he manages to get through homeroom without being approached, but his neck prickles with the amount of stares aimed unsubtly in his direction. It’s a struggle to remain calm. 

It improves a little once he sees Jamie, Sasha and Aff walk into class, settling down in their usual seats. They’d agreed to keep the events of that insane night to themselves, out of respect to Amanda and also for their own sake. There were enough rumors circulating that saying anything, or even trying to deny their involvement, would only make matters worse. Cameron gives each of them a nod and a brief smile, but doesn’t say a word otherwise.

His phone pings in the middle of a lecture on the evolutionary advantages of deep sea creatures, a topic that, on any other day, might have piqued his attention. With a practiced discreet movement, he opens up the message. It’s from Sasha, in the group chat they made after all that shit with the cultists went down.

 _Meet at mine after school?_ Aff’s contact saved as a dog emoji lights up at him.

 _Separately._ Sasha texts back instantly. _Too soon to be seen together._

Cameron sends off a quick thumbs up emoji, and Jamie voices his own agreement with a black heart. He feels a twinge of disappointment at having to endure the long school hours without their company, but tells himself to suck it up. Sasha was right, anyway. She always was, with these things.

Their plan works, for the most part.

Until lunch.

Cameron’s lucky enough to have a discreet corner of the cafeteria to tuck himself into, eating alone as per usual since his abrupt fall from grace. He spies Sasha and the Hive comfortably situated at the center of attention, swarmed by admirers, and takes some comfort in the fact that her social life, at least, managed to scrape by unscathed. Jamie is nowhere to be found. 

Cameron’s halfway through picking at his food when it happens.

There’s a loud bang and a yelp, and Cameron looks up to see Jason Buckner towering over a seated Aff, glaring coldly down at them with both fists clenched. Aff looks confused, tucking themselves into their big jacket like a threatened turtle and raising both hands in ‘woah, chill’ gesture. 

“Uh, what’s up dude?”

Jason glowers. “Shut the fuck up, asshole,” he growls, and that’s all the warning any of them get before his fist goes flying straight at Aff’s horrified face. 

_Wham!_

Aff groans, clutching at their head as Buckner continues to advance. The whole cafeteria has gone silent, everyone transfixed at the scene. 

“What the fuck, man, I thought we were cool! I already apologized about the whole punching thing-”

“I know you killed Amanda, you freak,” Jason cuts them off, moving to punch again. It connects painfully, but Aff catches his fist before it can rescind, holding it still. Cameron can see them fighting to remain calm, notices the way their eyes seem to flash yellow and the edges of a canine poking through the grimace. Cameron stands and starts walking briskly towards the commotion, hoping he can intervene before Aff gets in even more trouble for wolfing out in the center of a crowded cafeteria. 

Sasha beats him to it.

“What’s going on here, Buckner?” her voice rings out, cold and commanding, drawing heads. Aff and Jason remain locked on each other, and panic is starting to seep into Jason’s eyes as he realizes he can’t pull away from Aff’s iron grip.

“What the fuck? What kind of fucking monster are you?” Buckner grunts as he yanks ineffectually on his trapped arm. Aff says nothing, their face locked in a painful snarl. Cameron finally reaches the table, hesitating briefly before putting a gentle hand on Aff’s shoulder. 

“Hey,” he says quietly. “Aff, let him go. Please.”

Slowly, Aff unlocks, stiffly releasing Buckner as he stumbles away in shock. Cameron notes with considerable relief that the fur that had started to creep through the sleeves of their jacket have disappeared, and Aff’s eyes have lost their yellow tint.

Buckner straightens, rubbing his wrist, looking around wildly. “That girl’s a freak! She’s not human, she’s some kind of, of, creature!” 

Aff flinches, but before Cameron can lose his shit and take Buckner’s head off for insulting his friend, a cool voice intervenes.

“I believe the pronoun you were looking for is ‘they’,” says Jamie, as they appear seemingly out of thin air. 

“You’re all goddamn freaks, every single one of you,” Jason snarls, but he doesn’t attempt to move on Aff again, still cradling his wrist. “You don’t belong here.”

Jamie laughs without humor. “Oh, how right you are. Belong with the likes of you? No thanks.” They lean in, and with their sunglasses lowered Cameron can see the sinister glare and smile combo aimed right at Buckner. 

“Fuck with my friends again, and I’ll show you all the ways we’re not human.”

Jason’s eyes widen as he sees something invisible to the rest of them. Backing away in terror, he hits the back of a stray chair and sends it screeching back. 

“Holy shit,” he mutters, “holy shit, I’m out of here. Fucking hell.”  
And with that, he leaves. 

Cameron exhales, but doesn’t let himself fully relax. Aff is still breathing heavily, fists clenching and unclenching like it’s the only thing keeping them from snapping. As Sasha starts to effortlessly take over crowd-control duty, Cameron guides Aff out of the cafeteria, steering them away from the whispers and the prying eyes. Aff doesn’t fully relax until they’re led to an empty classroom. 

“You okay?” Cameron pushes aside a lock of their hair away and tilts their face to get a better look at the red mark blooming high on their cheek. He knows from experience that it’ll turn a nasty green in a day or two and winces. 

“Yeah.” Aff lets Cameron examine them without complaint, running a tongue cautiously over their teeth to check for canines. The tension in Aff’s shoulders releases only after they’ve ascertained that they are fully back to normal. 

“Thanks for the assist,” Aff mutters, but the usual shine in their eyes is noticeably absent. Cameron fights down the urge to hunt down Buckner and kick his ass. 

“Hey, he’s wrong, y’know. As a fellow freak to another, you might not fit in out there with them, but you’ll always belong with us.”

Cameron startles as he’s brought into an abrupt hug, but quickly softens in Aff’s tight grip, closing his eyes and just letting himself enjoy the first moment of physical interaction he’s had with a friend today. It’s nice.

“Whatever happened to ‘we can’t be seen together?’” 

Cameron and Aff spring apart as they see an amused Jamie walk in, with Sasha hot on their heels. Despite the teasing drawl, they thankfully look more amused than annoyed. Cameron sheepishly scratches at the hair at the back of his neck. “Yeah, that plan kind of went to shit.”

Sasha scoffs, throwing back her hair. “It doesn’t matter. If Buckner attempts a stunt like that again, I _will_ make him regret it.”

“I don’t think he will.”

“Yeah, dude, what the hell did you do to him? He looked five seconds away from shitting himself. It was awesome.”

Jamie smirks, pleased with himself. “Just made him see some things he shouldn’t, is all.”

“Do you need to go to the nurse’s office?” asks Sasha, uncharacteristically soft. Aff shakes their head. 

“I’ve had worse. Plus, I’m pretty sure being a werewolf comes with sick perks like fast healing, so there’s no point going anyway.”

“Well,” says Sasha, “after something like that, there really isn’t any point pretending that we don’t know each other.”

“Yeah. I’m more comfortable with us all staying within hearing distance of each other anyway,” Jamie adds. 

Cameron murmurs a quiet assent, his hand still unconsciously stroking back and forth Aff’s back in soothing motions. They lean back into him, smile slowly returning to its usual vibrance.

True to their word, the four of them make sure to stick together for the rest of the day, and whether they show it or not, they feel all the better for it.

* * *

The nightmares don’t stop. Cameron jerks awake for the fourth night in a row, trembling with a heady mix of fear and exhaustion. His hair sticks uncomfortably to his neck, damp with sweat, and he can feel tears threatening to spill across his cheeks. It’s so damn frustrating, and he feels so fucking _helpless_ , acting like a baby every night. Reduced to crying all night because of a couple of nightmares. Jesus, what a loser. 

He contemplates spending the night stewing in bed, and thinks the better of it. He knows trying to go back to sleep at this point is futile, and the four walls of his room have lately been slowly increasing his claustrophobia, especially since the only time he’s allowed to leave them is during school. 

Instead, Cameron opens his window and climbs out, skillfully navigating to well-worn footholds and expertly swinging himself onto the roof. It’s a little chilly outside, but Cameron welcomes the bite, inhaling a lungful of cold, clean air and leaning back exhaustively. He wonders how long he can keep this up before passing out in the middle of school. The nightmares, and worse, the _voices_ , have been getting more prevalent every second, and he hasn’t made any progress in finding ways to block it out. He could go to Jamie, but he really doesn't want to involve them until he’s exhausted every other option. 

For now, he just sits and watches the stars, trying hard to steal this brief moment of peace before the voices inevitably start up again.

* * *

Cameron nearly jumps out of his skin the next day when he feels a hand land on his shoulder, spinning so fast he makes himself dizzy.

“Woah, hey,” says Aff, sidestepping smoothly out of his way. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you or anything, I was just wondering if you understood any of that shit we learnt in bio just now. Also, d’you wanna get lunch together or something? I’m about 78% sure nobody will get punched today.” 

Cameron nods along absently, trying to calm his breathing and mitigate the headache that starts to creep along his temples the longer Aff speaks. 

Aff squints at him, stepping carelessly into his personal bubble to poke at his face. “Hey, are you alright? You look a little pale. Also, you have like, huge eye bags, dude. I mean, it kinda makes you look cool but also, woah.”

Cameron shakes their hand off and steps back, trying for a nonchalance and landing somewhere between a smile and a full-blown grimace. “I’m fine, Aff. Just a little tired, is all.”

Aff doesn’t look convinced, but to Cameron’s immense relief and gratitude, doesn’t try to press further. He follows them to the cafeteria, paying as much attention as his pounding skull would allow to their chatter and keeping an eye out for Buckner and his crew. There’s no sign of them, but Aff stops abruptly at the entrance anyway.

“What? Where? I’ll fuck him up,” Cameron promises. 

“Uh, what?”

“Uh, Buckner?”

Aff’s eyes widen. “Oh, no, not him. Actually I haven’t seen him since that time Jamie nearly made him pee his pants. That was awesome.”

“Yeah,” Cameron nods, confused. “Um. Why did we stop walking?” 

“I just,” Aff nervously scratches at their hair, a habit that they’ve picked up from Cameron himself, “you can talk to me anytime, y’know. I’m very affable. Aff-able!” Cameron watches them perk up and immediately cringe, almost in the same second. “Oh, yeah. That was bad. Sorry.” 

It’s enough to make him smile, helplessly genuine. 

“Thanks, Aff. I know.”

Aff’s grin, full and genuine in the way that only they can manage, eases the now near-constant anxiety bubbling in his chest. The heavy dread casting its immeasurable weight over him doesn’t disappear entirely, but with his friend sauntering cheerfully in front of him, Cameron feels just a bit more confident in his ability to get through the day, hopefully without any dead bodies.

* * *

The voices are getting worse. 

He hears them in class now, even surrounded by student chatter and vibrant highschool life. They seep in, drowning out even the most boisterous noise, and all Cameron can do is sink lower in his seat as the monotonous drone of the teacher fades out and is replaced by harsh, guttural whispers echoing endlessly through his brain. 

It’s enough to make him want to scream. Just stand up, smash his fist into the walls and leave. Cement his already cracked reputation: Cameron Solomon, that football guy that went crazy. 

Can’t be any worse than the throbbing, reverberating, constant whispers suffusing his brain. 

As soon as the final bell rings, Cameron’s already out the door, shouldering determinedly through the rush of students and climbing onto his bike before tearing off onto the main road. He hesitates slightly at the intersection, taking a moment to envision the consequences of his father’s rage if he finds out where Cameron’s going. The whispers surge up once more, in tandem with his fear: _we can help, let us help, he deserves to die, let us help let us help **letushelp-**_

With great effort, Cameron pushes past the ringing in his ears, focusing instead on the burn in his legs as he pedals frantically towards the quarry. He needs to see Jamie, fast. 

Before it’s too late.

* * *

Cameron’s out of breath as he dumps his bike into the copse of bushes a few minutes later, quickly finding the gap in the old fence and slipping through easily. He’s almost at the hideout when the sudden realization that Jamie may not even be there strikes. He hurriedly pulls out his phone.

_hey man, heading to the hideout. you there?_

Five seconds later, Cameron pulls short at the entrance to the hideout, face to face with an extremely unimpressed Jamie Wrenly.

“Oh hey,” Cameron tries for causal, “fancy seeing you here.” 

When Jamie doesn’t react, Cameron goes for the classic hand through his hair, subtly flexing his arm in the process. He pairs it with what he prays looks like a winning smile, consciously letting a little shyness seep through his expression. 

“Oh, you play dirty,” they huff in exasperation, but the stoic aura breaks and Cameron lets out a discreet sigh of relief. “What can I do for you, Cameron Solomon?”

“Oh, y’know, just thought I’d check in,” Cameron frowns as a sudden bolt of genuine awkward shyness shoots through his chest as Jamie turns to enter deeper into the cave, “See if you needed any help recovering materials, since the raid and all.”

“Nice of you to offer.” Cameron shrugs, starts helping them clear the shattered glass beads and dirt tracks that litter the floor. It seemed like what police that had come had carelessly handled whatever was visible and didn’t put much stock into a weird teenager’s fancy toys as any kind of evidence. Most of the actually valuable shit, the steel knives and drugs and dead critters, were well hidden by Jamie, who knew enough about paranoia to avoid being emptied out by a surprise police raid. They clean together in silence for a few minutes before Jamie sighs.

“Wanna tell me why you really came, then?” 

Cameron straightens, trying not to fidget with the edge of his jacket. This is it. If Jamie dismisses him, he’s got no one else to turn to.

“I have...a problem. There’s voices in my head.” Cameron winces at the way it sounds. Already his pitch is going sideways. 

“I’ve got drugs for that,” they say flippantly, still sorting through the tossed equipment. 

“Jamie, please.” That catches their attention, the desperate tone that he couldn’t help suppress. Jamie pauses, their expression turning shadowed and inscrutable, and Cameron prays to god or hell or whatever the fuck happened to be listening out there that he didn’t just inadvertantly ruin another friendship.

“What do you mean, voices?”

“I mean like, whispers. Telling me to do shit, offering me things, stuff like that,” Cameron shifts back on his heels, nervous at the non-reaction. “It’s been getting worse ever since, well, Amanda.”

“Have you ever tried to talk to the voices? Ask them anything?”

“Yeah. It’s how I found her body, that day in the quarry.”

“Interesting.” Jamie finally looks up from his equipment, sighing. “Well, it confirms my theory then. You and I don’t get our power from the same place. Yours is something else, something darker. And I don’t think it’s giving you shit for free.” Their eyes glint with a hint of insidious darkness, a fraction of the viciousness that was present that day in the Occultist’s parking lot. “I know I certainly won’t.”

“Is there something, I don’t know, like a spell or some shit that can get rid of it?”

Jamie pauses, considering.

“Meet me here tomorrow, same time,” Jamie turns, and Cameron gets the distinct feeling of being dismissed. “I’ll try and see what I can do. But Cameron,” Jamie gives him a final intense stare, “I can’t promise anything. These voices, whatever they are, are a little out of my expertise. I think whatever you’re dealing with might be something way more powerful than just simple black magic.”

“I know.” Cameron bites a lip, hesitating briefly, before reaching out and grabbing Jamie’s shoulder, anchoring the two of them together for a brief second. “Thank you for trying.”

Jamie’s eyes soften, and they gently pull away, returning to fiddling with their equipment. “Don’t do anything too stupid before then!” they call out, but there’s fondness in their tone. 

Cameron smiles privately to himself before walking out of the quarry, back to his house. 

_Nice._


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boi i've gotten dropout and it was a mistake and also the best thing to happen since the pandemic
> 
> no promises but you better believe there's a dim20 fic in the works

Sasha catches up to him the very next day. Really, it was only a matter of time before she did, and Cameron is an idiot for telling himself otherwise.

“What’s going on with you?” she says. It’s phrased as a question, but he knows better to treat it as such. With Sasha, most things are unquestionably a demand, and most people fare better meeting it right off the bat. 

Cameron knows this.

“Nothing much,” he shrugs as casually as he can. He can feel her stare as he trudges forward through the bland school hallway. Then again, his body was always unnervingly sensitive to her presence, whether they were dating or not. Even now he still can’t tell if the prickling in his neck is due to lust or simply his body warning him of danger. Probably the latter. 

" _Cameron_ ," and Jesus, even his fucking name sounds different curled around her mouth, equal parts seductive and disapproving. “That can’t be true. You haven’t come to talk to me in days, and I think we both know that that’s unnatural.”

“We’ve talked? I literally texted you yesterday.” Deep down he knows there isn’t any point in trying so hard to hide shit, because Sasha’s always been able to drag anything out of him despite his best efforts. It’s part of the reason they dated. It’s part of the reason they broke up.

“You texted the _group chat_ , not me.” She’s getting impatient, and it shows in her tone. Her hand comes up to grab his arm, using little force but managing to stop him in his tracks as effectively as iron bars in a prison cell. A prison cell they all went to because of him and the stupid voices. The guilt threatens to spill over, mixing with the churn in his stomach as the hand on his arm drifts higher over his bicep. What a mess.

“I’m fine,” Cameron insists, feeling his face heat up. “Really.”

Sasha shakes her head and sighs in frustration, but her face loses its severity as she catches his shoulders tightening at the sound. They both know what unforgiving disapproval feels like, tastes like. It’s a constant in both their homes, and for all her posturing Sasha would never intentionally press it on him. They know too well the devastation of indifference.

“Really, Cameron, you should stop lying to me.” Her fingers trail up his sides, gentle despite her teasing tone. “You were never any good at it, anyway.”

And damn it, his resolve wavers. It’s a losing battle, but he tries one last dismissive smile, musters all the confidence he can and tells her: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

It’s weak, and they both know it.

All it takes is a raised eyebrow, and he breaks. Tells her everything, from the beginning, the events and his fears and helplessness and hopes all surging out like a wild beast finally uncaged.

She seems wholly unsurprised. 

“You knew already,” Cameron’s shoulders slump as he laughs self-deprecatingly. “Should’ve seen that coming.”

“Jamie told me everything,” she shrugs. “I just wanted to hear it from you.”

She grabs his forearms, waiting until he makes eye contact. “Cam. You’re not alone in this. I know I’m not always there for you, and you’re not always here for me. But we’re in this together now, and that’s what I’m choosing to focus on. Everything else will wait.”

He feels pressure behind his eyelids, but nods determinedly. “Thanks. That...means a lot.”

She shrugs most of it off, but he can see the way the corner of her lips involuntarily quirks up. She’s not the only one who can read people. Their relationship, rocky as it was, was always a two-way street. He slings an arm around her shoulder, raising an eyebrow in an unspoken question and smiling when she relaxes into the hold. They move through the hall in tandem this time, the crowd of students parting as they walk, and for the first time since this whole shitshow started, Cameron feels like himself again.

Powerful.

* * *

School ends late. He’s on his bike and pulling out of the parking lot in record time, wheeling past the hordes streaming out of the exit and waving goodbye to the few friendly faces as he goes. Aff had taken the day off to help with their father at the store, and Jamie had been absent, apparently “gathering materials”, whatever that meant, for a ritual. By now the word had spread between the three of them, and Cameron can say with a good degree of confidence that they’ve probably met without him to discuss some of the shit he hasn’t told them about yet. The thought surprisingly doesn’t unnerve him. 

It feels nice, to have so many people care about him enough to go to such lengths. 

Sasha had kissed him on the cheek before moving to take her car, needing to check in with her parents before being able to make it to the quarry. Cameron had agreed to meet all of them there as soon as his classes ended.

On his way to the quarry, his phone dings. It’s a single text, from his father.

_You’re out._

Cameron pockets his phone, feeling suddenly nauseous. His fingers itch to stop the bike, to send a simple text to the group, to not show up at all. He can’t deal with this happening, not in conjunction with everything else. If he goes back now, he could do something, god, he could beg his father to take him back, he could try and make him understand, he could - he could kill him and make it look like an accident -

The surroundings start to slow as he feels his chest tightening up, cold sweat breaking out of his suddenly weightless body. He feels outside himself. He feels numb. The pedals of the bike feel foreign underneath his own feet. The wheels beneath wobble, unsteady as all the foundations he’s ever built his life upon.

His phone dings once more, and he fumbles it out in a daze. 

It’s from Sasha.

_Everything else will wait._

Cameron blinks hard. He stops pedaling, his shoes skidding on the pavement as he gets off. He still feels unstable, disoriented. With a jolt, he realizes his hands, his entire body even, is trembling, his breath coming in short bursts and gasps. He crouches down, pulling his knees into himself, locking his limbs as the world shatters and dissolves around him, ephemeral and unbalanced. Tiny motes of green swirl over him, in him, crowding out his vision. 

He can’t tell how long he spends there, huddled down and shaking as his mind slowly puts itself back together. It could have been minutes. It could have been days.

His limbs have gone sore from tension when he finally stretches out, and his vision swims a bit when he stands, but the trembling has stopped and the world has lost the otherworldly sheen and distance that had overwhelmed him moments before. He feels more grounded, more resolved. Cameron gets back on his bike, takes a moment to breathe deeply. Continues on his way to the hideout.

He can fix this. He’s got friends.

Everything else will wait.

* * *

They’re all waiting in various states of anxiety/indifference/excitement when Cameron finally reaches the hideout. He doesn’t mention anything about the mini meltdown he had on the way here, but throws a nod and a smile to Sasha on his way in. Jamie’s leaning back against the hard rock in the languid way that only they can really pull off, and Aff perks up the moment he enters. 

“Here man, I got you something,” he takes out a bottle of bright blue liquid from his backpack, a final holdover from the life he used to have. He doesn’t think of his house, his room, when he hands the drink over. “I hope it’s still cold.”

“Oh, dude! Cotton candy faygo! You’re seriously the best.” Aff rips off the cap and chugs the whole thing in a slightly sickening and also very fascinatingly short amount of time. 

“How do you not just pass out from the sugar rush?” wonders Jamie aloud. Aff merely shakes their head furiously back and forth, almost wolf-like in their vigour.

“Oh, shit, that’s the stuff. Dude. That is the shit.” 

Cameron holds back a snicker as he watches them just pace around, empty bottle in hand, looking to all the world like the most satisfied person on planet Earth. Most of the wreckage that had littered the hideout yesterday had been meticulously cleared out, and aside from a few candles and the old pentagram in the dirt, held nothing but the people currently in it. The absence of weird shit, despite the often menacing or sometimes just downright fucked up stuff that Jamie stashes in here, actually makes the space a bit more sombre. Like there’s something important missing.

“So...I guess this is it?” After all the conversations that have led to this point, Cameron finds himself at a loss for words. 

“Yeah, wait, about this,” Aff wrinkles their nose, “what exactly is going on with you? I mean, I know it’s got something to do with the occult shit that we saw that week, but like, I’m still not sure what that means.”

Cameron sighs and does his best to explain, running through the chain of events since the start of the voices and leaving out all the shit with his parents. He’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it. When he finally finishes talking, there’s a moment of silence as all four of them try and process.

“So...Jesus gave you sleep deprivation and is now trying to possess you?” Aff cocks their head sideways like a curious puppy, and it’s enough to nudge a tired chuckle out of him.

“Yeah, I really don’t think this is Jesus.” He scratches a hand through his hair. “Actually, I think it might be more like...a demon? I don’t know,” he tosses his hands up helplessly. “I just don’t think it has the best, y’know, intentions, or whatever.”

Jamie’s face darkens. “Whatever it is, it’s going to demand more than you can give. I don’t trust it.” 

“Is there a way to, oh, dispel it from him?” 

They perk up at Sasha’s question. “An exorcism is an excellent proposal, and I’ve been collecting some, ah, ingredients, in preparation for this eventuality.” Jamie pulls out his pouch and starts rifling through his materials, pulling out various odds and ends: a needle, a shard of bone, and what Cameron might have believed to be a pair of dried-out rabbit ballsacks. He tries not to imagine what the witch might have needed done with that particular item.

The three of them watch in silence as Jamie begins to lay out the materials, drawing strange symbols in chalk on the walls and floor of the cave. The atmosphere gets increasingly tense as they begin to light some incense and candles, positioning them in a circle around the cave. The ambient smoke fills the space, dimming the flickering lights. All the movies Cameron’s ever seen with his football buddies tell him that this is an extremely bad idea bound to leave at least one of them dead, but hey. He trusts Jamie, and it’s not like the four of them here are powerless. Or stupid.

He hopes not, anyway.

“Okay,” Jamie says, dusting off their chalky hands and turning to face the rest of them. “That should be it.”

“Am I good here, or do I have to go stand in the freaky circle?” 

“I’m afraid you have to stand in the freaky circle.”

Cameron shrugs and goes to stand in the freaky circle. 

Jamie opens an old tome and starts reading from it, and as they do so the chalk runes start to light up, burning black trails across the dirt and stone. The smoke starts to agitate and swirl upwards, forming a translucent pattern centered around Cameron. A soft hum begins to fill the space, and Jamie’s eyes go dark as his chanting increases in volume and fervor, their pale skin stark against black irises. Cameron feels something tugging at him, pulling against invisible threads emanating from his fingers, his chest. It’s a little uncomfortable.

He can see Sasha and Aff a little ways off to the side, Sasha watching with a sharpness that belies her tension, and Aff looking on in awe at the otherworldly nature of the lights. It comforts him, to know that they’re watching. 

The tugging sensation builds, and builds, becoming almost a vice around his chest. His hands ball up into fists and his eyes start to water at the pressure, but Jamie continues to chant and so he stays where he is. 

Jamie’s voice seems to amplify, reverberating through the cave walls as he reads the final lines of the incantation. There’s a pregnant pause, a moment of silence as all of them wait in silence. 

A burst of green light shoots from Cameron’s chest, creating a flash so bright it temporarily blinds him. He can hear the whispers now, and a glance at his friends tell him that this time, they can hear it too. 

_foolish mortals, kill them, take the power you deserve, take the souls, the damned, kill them, boy, listen-_

The chattering multiplies, voluminous, overlapping again and again until they merge into a single, deep voice: _“Why have you summoned me, infernal?”_

Jamie shouts a command in Latin, moving his hands in a motion. Each word intoned by the voice causes sparks of pain to shoot up Cameron’s head, as if his skull couldn’t contain the sheer magnitude of volume. The voice speaks again, sounding bitterly amused. 

_“Banishing **me?** ”_

It laughs, echoing through the room and blasting Cameron back a few steps. His head is pounding now, exceeding his worst headache by a few million miles. Cameron groans. Jamie starts up a different chant, and although their voice remains steady there’s a new fear seeping through their eyes. 

“ _You owe me_ ,” the whispers grow harsher, reverberating in his skull. Pain lances through his forehead. “ _You made a **deal.**_ ”

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Cameron whimpers, clutching his head. He can’t see. He can’t hear, can’t feel. His whole world reduced to the single voice, now laughing raggedly into his ears. Green smoke pours off his whole body, enveloping the room. 

“ _You’ll regret this_ ,” the voice promises, and Cameron’s body spasms, wracked in uncontrollable shivers as he doubles over in agony. He wishes the demon would just shut up and kill him already. _Is this what dying feels like?_

The searing pain grows and grows and grows, far beyond what he imagines his body can feasibly withstand. He can’t hear Jamie. His atoms are exploding. His brain is jelly. He wants to die, and above all he just wants it all to stop. 

A new sensation suddenly slices through him, a sharp contrast to the feeling of a thousand vibrating needles simultaneously jabbing into his skull. It’s enough to break through the green that had begun to creep over his vision, shocking him out of whatever state he’d been in a second ago. The headache abruptly ends, and there’s a few moments of weightless confusion as Cameron desperately tries to wrap his head around the sudden absence of internal pain. Then his body registers it.

“Fucking, _ow!_ ” His hands move to his chest and come away bloody. “What the fuck?

Cameron looks up to see Aff, mid-transformation, looking as guilty as their fuzzy face would allow. Blood beads at the tip of their wicked claws, muscles straining against their previously-baggy clothes. For a second they look menacing, almost predatory, but the image quickly breaks when they jump and shrink a little at his pained groan. The claws and fur reside as Aff reaches forward to tentatively grasp one of his hands. 

“I’m so so so so so sorry! You started smoking, and then your eyes went all funny and then you looked like you were about to collapse! And trying to talk to you or shake you didn’t seem like it was helping, and-”

“It’s okay, Aff, really,” Cameron tries, still trying somewhat ineffectively to stem the blood flow. “Not like this is the first time, eh?” 

He meant it as a joke, but Aff’s face rapidly falls as they remember the similar scene at the parking lot. “No, no, no,” Cameron gives up on his bloodied chest and instead reaches out to grip Aff’s shoulders, stopping their retreat. “I didn’t mean it like that!” 

Aff slowly stops backing away, looking at him sadly. _Seriously_ , thinks Cameron, _who the fuck is able to resist those eyes?_

“Thank you for breaking me outta there, man.” Cameron tells them gravely. “I really appreciate it.”

“I mean, you gave me cotton-candy faygo, I’d literally die for you,” Aff returns, and they both stand there grinning stupidly at each other until Sasha, bless her, coughs pointedly. 

“Not that this isn’t exceedingly sweet, but Cameron, your chest is still bleeding and there’s a very real chance you may pass out from blood loss in the next few minutes if we don’t take care of that.” 

Aff scrambles to take off their hoodie, looking up at Cameron for permission before gently pressing it to his chest. Jamie brings out an actual first aid kit, because they apparently have those sorts of things just lying around. Together, the three of them manage to staunch the flow to a less critical level. 

“How are you feeling now, Cameron?” 

Cameron looks up from his newly bandaged chest to Sasha, taking a moment to assess. He doesn’t feel terribly different, but as he probes deeper, he realizes he can no longer feel the threatening presence that had once permeated his every unconscious thought. He feels lighter, somehow, despite a sluggishly bleeding chest wound. Like a constant ominous thunderstorm had finally cleared. 

“I think it worked.” He aimlessly messes with his hair a little, just to give his hands something to do. A literal demon was just driven from his head, and he’s still alive. That has to count for something. “I think I’ll be fine.” 

There’s a small, persistent thought in his head, telling him now that he has no powers, no money, not even a home to call his own, now that everything about him that made him special was gone, what’s left worth looking at? With the absence of a supernatural leech in his body he knows for certain that this shitty thought is all his own. Fun. He catches Sasha looking at him intently, and knows she caught some of it.

“There’s something else,” she says, stepping closer. “Something you’re not telling us.”

Between Jamie and Sasha’s insistent stares, combined with Aff’s pleading look, Cameron caves. 

“It’s just- it’s stupid, but what if,” he takes a deep breath, “what if you guys are in trouble, with cultists or demons or whatever crazy shit that happens to us next, and I couldn’t help? Like, last time, if I’d had the visions earlier we could’ve saved Amanda. Now I’m even more useless! What happens the next time one of you gets hurt, and I can’t do anything to save you?” 

There’s a brief silence where the three of them exchange looks. Then, in unspoken agreement, Aff, Sasha and Jamie close in on Cameron, engulfing him in a giant, monstrous hug.

“Cameron, you’re fine the way you are, y’know.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t keep you around just to have you die from sleep deprivation, Cam. Don’t be stupid.”

“We like you for you, you doof.”

Cameron feels his throat close up. “Great,” he croaks, “because I got kicked out earlier today and I really don’t know what to do.” 

There are tears pressing against the back of his eyes and his skin feels all hot and prickly. God, he can’t cry right now, that’d be so fucking stupid. He can’t tell whose hand is currently rubbing small circles on his back, but Cameron allows himself a moment to appreciate the immense warmth and comfort freely given by his friends. It's small, and terribly fragile, but there's a sense of hope blooming in his chest that hasn't been present for a long, long while, filling the space inside him left by the demon's departure. It's something. 

Cameron closes his eyes and returns the hug, and if a few tears slide down his face then, who cares? He's with family.

* * *

Cameron dusts off the last of the ash on the cave floor, removing the final evidence that anything supernatural had occurred here. Standing, Cameron stretches languidly, cracking his knuckles and back all at once. Apparently once an omnipresent lecherous demon leaves your mortal body, said mortal body feels extremely fantastic. He hasn’t felt this loose in a while. 

“Ready to go?” Jamie hoists their satchel of miscreant goods off the cave floor. They wouldn’t be back in a while, if ever. This hideout has been burned. 

“One more thing,” Sasha says, stepping in close enough that the collar of her blouse brushes against Cameron’s chest. She has a familiar look in her eyes, the one that says she has a proposal that he’d either love or hate, or both. He swallows. “Yeah?”

“I told you before that my parents cut me off, right?” 

Cameron frowns. “Yeah?”

“Well,” she smirks and caresses a lock of his hair, “I managed to convince the bank attendant to release my trust fund prematurely, and transfer it to a joint bank account with Aff’s dad.” 

Cameron looks at her with pure awe. “But, wait, won’t you get in deep shit once they find out?”

“Oh, you know it,” she shoots him a devastating smirk, “that’s why I also used my newly liberated funds to get us a house.”

Cameron blinks, uncomprehending. 

“Uh. A house?”

Sasha steps back, and her abrupt retreat from his personal bubble jars Cameron out of the mini fantasies his mind has already spun of himself and Sasha living together, maybe with a dog and other two people (ahem) involved.

“I mean. If you wanted to, of course. Moving in is a big step and all, and trust me when I say I’ll understand if you don’t want to.” Her picture-perfect smirk remains, but he knows her enough to see the cracks in her facade, the slight downturn of her lips betraying her uncertainty. 

“Sasha,” he gently grasps her arms, tugging her back into his space, “of course I’d wanna live with you. I’ve literally dreamed of this moment.”

“Plus,” he says, looking down shyly, “I’m like, kind of in love with you?”

There’s a pregnant pause once again as Aff and Jamie pretend not to notice the intimate couple literally inches away from them. Cameron turns to address them anyway, ruining the farce.

“All of you, actually. I, um.” He habitually ruffles his hair and glances away again, unaware of the almost identical looks of longing both Aff and Jamie sport at his devastatingly hot disheveled appearance. “I don’t think I could’ve survived without all of you backing me up. So thanks. Thank you.” 

His cheeks flushed, hair falling in messy locks over his forehead and jacket stretching along the contours of his frame, Cameron smiles bashfully up at them, and there really isn’t anything else to do except-

“Can I kiss you?” blurts Aff. 

Jamie nods his head in grave agreement. “We have to,” he tells them. “It’s against the law not to.”

“Right,” they say, nodding vigorously, “and, like, we wouldn’t want to do anything illegal to the laws of nature! That’s like, the most important laws.”

Cameron chuckles, feeling for the first time free to embrace his own happiness, and doesn’t try to suppress the smile that stretches across his face. The tightness that had wound itself like a noose around his neck finally dissolves, lifting the weight around his chest that had made it so difficult to breathe. 

“C’mere,” he lifts his arms, and they all crowd around him as he gives first Aff a playful kiss, then Jamie. 

When they (eventually) emerge from the hideout proper, the sun has already set, leaving the quarry is quiet and cold. The four of them, sweaty, bruised and still somewhat bleeding, stagger out and head toward the start of their new lives, all carrying the same quiet certainty that whatever happens next, they'd face it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading

**Author's Note:**

> aimed to get this out by feburary, shoot for the stars and hit the ceiling amirite  
> also my tumblr is [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mnemosynerd), please come yell at me about unsleeping city because im obsessed and haven't yet caught up in fantasy high


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